The earlier you make your travel plans, the more likely you are to score a cheap airplane seat. The cost of air travel rises steeply during the 28 days preceding departure, so reservations should ideally be made at least two, if not three months, in advance. As of March 2011, a return trip from New York La Guardia to Chicago Midway with Southwest Airlines cost $446 per person in economy when booked one week before departure. The same trip, booked two months in advance, cost $253 per person.
A degree of flexibility will pay dividends if you are searching for cheap flights. If you find fares to be high on the dates you wish to travel, try moving forward or back by 24 or 48 hours. As of March 2011, a return flight for one person on Southwest Airlines between La Guardia and Baltimore cost $255 when booked two months in advance. However, when departure and return were each moved forward by 24 hours the fare dropped to $149. Flexibility when it comes to your departure and arrival airports may also lower the cost of your flight. If there's more than one airport convenient to your destination, price return journeys to both. Also price an outward single to one of the airports, and a return single from the other.
Flexibility and booking as far in advance as possible are vital when it comes to obtaining cheap international flights. Travel website "Travelgrove" says these journeys should be booked at least three months prior to travel to obtain the best possible fare. It warns travelers not to book any less than three weeks in advance, as fares have a tendency to climb steeply during the last fortnight before departure. Remember also to check fares to all viable points of arrival. For example, most people traveling to London from the U.S. arrive at London Heathrow. However, there are also direct services to Birmingham International, a much more compact airport, with fast rail links to central London.
If you have to travel on a specific date and you find an airfare you know is a bargain, grab it. If you don't make the booking, the fare may well disappear. Nobody wants to pay any more than they have to for an airplane seat, so a true bargain will not stay on the booking system for long.
